HCM City-Gyeongju World Cultural Festival 2017 opens

HCM City (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City – Gyeongju World Cultural
Festival 2017 is taking place in the Vietnamese southern hub on November 11 as
part of activities to celebrate the 25th founding anniversary of the diplomatic
relations between the two countries (December 22).

The festival, the first of its kind in HCM City held by the two cities, features
a series of cultural exchange activities between Vietnam and the Republic of
Korea (RoK).

Addressing the opening ceremony on November 11, Chairman of the HCM City
People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong highlighted the similarity in culture,
history and people of Vietnam and the RoK, and stressed that this year marks
the 25 years of the fruitful cooperation between the two nations in
numerous fields, including economics, culture, trade, education and tourism.

Phong said the event, which runs until December 3, is expected to convey a
message of peace, cooperation and friendship among people all around the world,
while lifting friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK to a new
level in a more sustainable manner.

For his part, Governor of the RoK’s province Gyeongsangbuk-Do province Kim
Kwan-yong underlined the Vietnam – RoK ties, saying that they are big economic
partners of each other as well as a huge
number of the two nation’s people are living in the respective country.

The festival helps usher in a path of peace and cooperation in culture and
economic development, he said, adding that it contributes to promoting the
cooperation between the two nations in tourism, trade and investment.

The Gyeonju World Cultural Festival is held biennially by Gyeongsangbuk-Do
province since 1998. It was held six times in the RoK and two times in other
countries (Cambodia in 2006 and Turkey in 2013), attracting over 17 million
people.-VNA